Matt Schimkowitz

It’s funny and charming, but when the film slows down for an emotional catharsis, Forgotten Island struggles to tie its disparate charms into a single bracelet. It has all the right parts in all the right places; it simply has too many of the right parts in too many of the right places. Like the many baubles dangling from Jo and Raissa’s wrists, it could stand to lose a few.

Charisma only takes Idiots so far. At some point, even the dumbest characters need some depth.

Leading things is Johnson, who finally gets the perfect starring role for his raspy-voiced charms and overworked confidence. He anchors The Dink with his off-the-cuff style and Ricky Bobby’s dickhead arrogance.

While the mix of old and new can be a blessing and a curse, Knoxville and the gang have earned the victory lap.

Fans of Bargatze’s squeaky clean comedy of domestic absurdity will feel comforted by The Breadwinner‘s lightly toasted humor. They’ll feel doubly reassured by the clips from Bargatze’s stand-up that inspired the film’s material, which roll over the credits between shots of the cast cracking up. Sure, they all had a good time, but the audience deserves something more than what they’ve been fed before.

By keeping their movie grounded in street-level pursuits and raucous shootouts, the McManus brothers situate the multiverse concept in a believable reality that doesn’t require a subreddit to detangle. Redux Redux jumps swiftly and elegantly, finding timelines worth visiting again and again.

Anaconda may be getting the benefit of the doubt here because of how few studio comedies make it to theaters. In another era, it might easily have gotten lost in a wave of post-modern updates that included The Brady Bunch and Starsky & Hutch. Its plot offers few surprises, but its simple foundations and character motivations give Rudd and Black so much room to play that it’s an amiable time.

The film is even less than the sum of its genre trappings.

There are moments when the sequel nearly overdoes it, when Helander’s thirst for blood threatens to overpower the film. Yet, in its simplicity, it finds a steady rhythm that quickens gradually, peaks, and resets. It isn’t profound or enlightening, but for 89 minutes, it rides the fury road confidently, flipping tanks and unleashing hell along the way.

Like a punk band turning four chords into pure angst, Bring Her Back turns familiar trauma-based horror into a traumatic experience. To sit through Bring Her Back is to endure it.